Oct 8, 2008

Open Thread

3598 Comments:

The Latest Buzz is that You are going to be investigating the Voter registration Irregularities of the group ACORN , and possibly any involvement by DNC Officials , elected officials and the Obama campaign in the irregularities under the RICO statutes .

I concur with python. Voter fraud is one of the most brutal assaults on freedom and democracy. ACORN has been getting away with this for too long on America's dime nonetheless. It's an outrage and being done right in our faces. We need you now more than ever Fitz. Living in Il. I can't begin to tell you how much you are respected and appreciated here.

The mainstream media isn't doing their job of reporting the news about ACORN's fraudulent & strong-arm tactics. FOX is the only news media that is looking into this story. Many Americans have no idea about ACORN. We need you to inform the American people of what's really going on. Please don't let most of the American people down like ABC,CBS,NBC,MSNBC and CNN have.

"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made an overnight change in the homeowner bailout he proposed at Tuesday’s presidential debate, making it more generous to financial institutions and more costly for taxpayers.

"David Brooks spoke frankly about the presidential and vice presidential candidates Monday afternoon, calling Sarah Palin a "fatal cancer to the Republican party" but describing John McCain and Barack Obama as "the two best candidates we've had in a long time." '

McCAIN: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. My husband, he’d be the first one to tell you that he was trained to do what he was doing. The guys who had the trouble were the 18-year-olds who were drafted. He was trained, he went to the Naval Academy, he was a trained United States naval officer, and so he knew what he was doing.

Wonder if Cindy thinks the returning Iraq and Afghanistan Vets have PTSD?

Its my fervent hope that you are indeed investigating ACORN. I'm a McCain supporter and ANY voter fraud must be rooted out. Fair play and open elections are required for our republic's sake. The once great Democratic party has been hijacked by radicals who've abandoned its fine principles. If you find republicans, so be it. If you find democrats, so be it. We need you, Mr. Fitzgerald, the country needs you.

"We watched an interview on "The Daily Show" the other night of patrons at a Wasilla bar responding to the vice presidential debate, and it wasn’t funny.

The Sarah Palin fans were racists, homophobic and one even wished for John McCain’s death if he gets elected so Palin could become president."

McCain and Palin need to check their own egos and calm these crowds down. Denouncing these comments would earn the respect of all.

"Some other excerpts from the Alaskan blog worthy of note:

And finally, here’s the quote of the day from AIP founder Joe Vogler.

“The fires of Hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government, and I won’t be buried under their damn flag! I’ll be buried in Dawson, and when Alaska is an independent nation, they can bring my bones home.”

Reverend Wright suddenly sounds stunningly patriotic."

Agreed. It's time the Palins answered about the AIP. Such hate for the American government and country.

The findings seem to cast doubts on McCain's frequent assertions that the United States is "on a path to victory" in Iraq by underscoring the deep uncertainties of the situation despite the 30,000-strong U.S. troop surge for which he was the leading congressional advocate.

But McCain could also use the findings to try to strengthen his argument for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq until conditions stabilize.

For Obama, the report raises questions about whether he could fulfill his pledge to withdraw most of the remaining 152,000 U.S. troops _ he would leave some there to deal with al Qaida and to protect U.S. diplomats and civilians _ within 16 months of taking office so that more U.S. forces could be sent to battle the growing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

"US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin faces possible censure today with the conclusion of an investigation into allegations that she committed a serious abuse of power by sacking the head of the Alaskan police force when he refused to become involved in a family feud."

"John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain. You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate."

" John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

"They have send this young, naive -- very confident, perhaps in Alaska -- young woman out with the most incendiary talking points, the most dangerous racist talking points and I think they should be ashamed of themselves," Laxalt told CNN's Larry King Thursday night."

Inciting hate only turns voters off and makes people think less of McCain and Palin.

In contrast to Republicans' repeated crying about election fraud, comparatively little attention is being paid to thousands of voters being purged from registration rolls across the country. One assumes folks like Feeney would like to keep it that way.

"Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) is a third-term member of Congress, representing Florida’s 24th congressional district. Rep. Feeney’s ethics violations stem from his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and three trips he took in apparent violation of House travel and gift rules. Rep. Feeney was included in CREW’s 2005, 2006, and 2007 congressional corruption reports."

"Barack Obama attacked John McCain on Friday for launching a “barrage of nasty insinuations and attacks” as the stock market tumbled.

“Even as we face the most serious economic crisis of our time, even as you are worried about keeping your jobs or paying your bills or staying in your homes, my opponent’s campaign announced last week that they plan to ‘turn the page’ on the discussion about our economy so they can spend the final weeks of this election attacking me instead,” Obama said during a speech in Chillicothe, Ohio.

“So in the last couple of days, we’ve seen a barrage of nasty insinuations and attacks, and I’m sure we’ll see much more over the next 25 days. We know what’s coming. We know what they’re going to do.”

“I think that folks are looking for something different,” Obama continued. “It’s easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that’s not what we need right now in the United States.

“The times are too serious. The challenges are too great. The American people aren’t looking for someone who can divide this country — they’re looking for someone who will lead it."

"The McCain campaign is now broadening their attack on Obama's past association with William Ayers to include Michelle Obama -- even though McCain has repeatedly said spouses should be off limits during the campaign.

The attack? Bernardine Dohrn, Ayers' wife and fellow former Weatherman, went to work in 1984 for the major Chicago-based national law firm of Sidley & Austin, and three years later, Michelle joined the mega-firm as well."

"The firm's Chicago office currently employs more than 500 lawyers.

Murtagh didn't even bother alleging that the two even knew each other, instead suggesting that they might have. If so, he said, the Obamas have known the two longer than suspected."

" For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 2952.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 2952.110(a) provides

“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

The investigation also found that Monegan’s refusal to fire Wooten “was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety.”

At any other time, what happened in the U.S. Justice Department last week would have been big news. At any other time, when internal reports by Justice Department call for more investigation into a case of unethical, if not criminal, conduct on the part of lawmakers and the White House, the administration would have a lot of explaining to do.

But the Bush administration got lucky. As its Treasury and Federal Reserve chiefs warned that the sky was falling and the economic crash and continuing tumult on Wall Street made them seem prophetic, the Justice Department released a nearly 400-page scalding indictment of the administration over the controversial firings of several U.S. attorneys in 2006.

"Investigators from both the department's Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility found that political pressure did indeed drive the dismissal action against at least three of the nine federal prosecutors abruptly fired. At the time, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales insisted the individuals were all dismissed for inadequate performance, or failure to implement the President's law enforcement agenda.

But it appears the longtime pal and adviser to President Bush was lying through his teeth. Turns out the real reason some of the top federal lawyers were removed from the job, according to the Justice Department report, was that either the U.S. attorneys had the audacity to prosecute Republicans or because they failed to aggressively prosecute Democrats."

Thank you Mr. Fitzgerald for standing up to the chicago machine. It is amazing that this current governer did not learn from the last. Lets hope at least future office holders will take note, that the game's rules have changed.

" This is the endgame, the ugly stuff, meant to assassinate character and distract the electorate with foolishness as our financial house of cards flutters away into the uncertain winds of whatever's left of the global economy. "It's a dangerous road, but we have no choice," a "top McCain strategist" told the New York Daily News. "If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we're going to lose." Another GOP operative was quoted by The Washington Post: "There's no question we have to change the subject here." '

" So both sides are at each other, hammer and tong. But to suggest there is an equivalency in the attacks, as many in the media have done, is debatable. That McCain has a past history of stumbling into financial poo (although $2.6 billion seems a pittance in comparison to the mega-sums being gambled away now) seems on point, relevant at a time when the economy is the most important issue in the land. Not to mention that he had a far deeper and more personal relationship with Keating than Obama ever had with Ayers - including nine trips on the Keating dime (a few on Keating's private jet), some of which weren't reimbursed until the scandal erupted, and $112,000 in campaign contributions from Keating and his associates - more than any of the other four senators.

"And not to mention McCain's relationship with Phil Gramm, his economic guru, the former senior senator from Texas via Wall Street who called us "a nation of whiners" and who manipulated Congress to open the door to many of the excesses that have led to our fiscal downfall - a man who, as American Prospect editor Harold Meyerson wrote, "has diminished American solvency and power beyond the wildest dreams of anti-American terrorists."

"McCain’s statement is ironic, considering his running mate was cited just last night by an official state investigation for unethically and unlawfully abusing her power. Noting that McCain was previously admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for his involvement in the Keating scandal, Steve Benen reports:

The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election."

Asked by a reporter in Pennsylvania if the charges were true, Palin replied: "No, and if you read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about it. You have to read the report.

“Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’

"As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together. That is the kind of campaign Senator Obama will continue to run in the weeks ahead.”

Although McCain's Senate office did not respond to questions from The Herald, earlier this year a McCain spokeswoman told The New York Times that the senator "had done nothing for Mr. Diamond that he would not do for any other Arizona citizen."

Not your ordinary citizen

But Diamond is no ordinary constituent.

Besides being a leading developer in McCain's home state, he is a pro-Israel lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and is among the elite "innovators" group whose members have individually raised $500,000 or more for McCain's presidential bid, according to the candidate's campaign Web site.

Diamond served as national finance co-chairman for McCain's presidential exploratory committee, and in court documents he describes himself as a longtime friend of the Republican senator.

Farr found it more than a little unusual an Arizona senator would become involved in a land deal in California.

"This, to me, was just sort of out of the box," Farr said recently. "Senators don't usually mess around in other states."

Diamond said McCain assigned Ann Sauer, a senior aide to McCain, to the case.

Sauer was well known around the Pentagon and previously worked as a staff member for the Senate Armed Services Committee. She is a vice president in charge of Washington operations for Lockheed Martin Corp.

"I've been warned that Flyers fans, they get so enthused, that they boo everybody at the drop of the puck," Palin said at a Saturday fundraiser. "But what I thought I'd do is I'd put Piper in a Flyers jersey, bring her out with me. How dare they boo Piper!"

"Given the global economic crisis, a record 90 percent of registered voters say the country is seriously off on the wrong track, the most since this question first was asked in 1973. At 23 percent, Bush's job approval rating has fallen below Nixon's lowest; it's a point away from the lowest in 70 years of polling, set by Harry Truman in early 1952. Bush's disapproval, meanwhile, is at an all-time record – 73 percent."

We don't need more of the same with McCain voting with Bush over 90% of the time.

"It's par for the course," [Ordower] said. "When you're doing more registrations than anyone else in the country, some don't want low-income people being empowered to vote. There are pretty targeted attacks on us, but we're proud to be out there doing the patriotic thing getting people registered to vote."

Republicans are among ACORN's loudest critics. At a campaign stop in Bethlehem, Pa., supporters of John McCain interrupted his remarks Wednesday by shouting, "No more ACORN."

“This term terrorist is a really serious accusation,” Sister Ardeth, a nun for 54 years, told The Washington Times on Thursday in the first interview that the women have given since being informed they were among 53 people added to a terrorist watch list in conjunction with an extensive Maryland surveillance effort of antiwar activists.

“There is no way that we ever want to be identified as terrorists. We are nonviolent. We are faith-based,” she said. […] “Democracy is built on these elements on being able to speak out to speak what we believe is truth,” Sister Carol said.

"In a column in New York Magazine, Cramer has effectively endorsed Obama. Cramer wrote, "And while any president will be an improvement over the current one, there is a growing belief on Wall Street that Barack Obama has the capacity to lead us out of this wilderness while John McCain does not. I'll go a step further: Obama is a recession. McCain is a depression."

Judge blasts GOP voter registration challenges'HELENA - U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a scathing order Wednesday lambasting the Montana Republican Party for challenging the registrations of thousands of Montana voters, but stopped short of an actual ruling in the case.

In his 19-page order, Molloy denied a temporary restraining order to the Montana Democratic Party, which sought to stop thousands of GOP-led voter challenges from moving forward. Molloy wrote that Secretary of State Brad Johnson “astutely” asked counties not to process the Republicans' voter challenges, which effectively alleviated a crisis that would have required a restraining order.'

"The Washington Post Fact-Checker takes a look at Sarah Palin’s claim that the Troopergate report cleared her “of any hit of any kind of unethical activity.” The Post writes that is the “reverse of the truth”: “What is not debatable is that the report clearly states that she violated the State Ethics Act. ” The Post awards Palin four Pinocchios — its highest rating for false statements."

Palin lies so much she cannot separate the truth from lies. Just like BUSH and CHENEY.

"This is one of those news stories you can hardly believe. In Lake County, Indiana, ACORN turned in 5,000 new registrations. The authorities there started reviewing them, and quit after they found that the first 2,100 were all fraudulent. The mind boggles: ACORN turns in thousands of new registrations, and not a single one represents a legitimate voter. Here is CNN's report:"

Scroll down to "October 13, 2008ACORN: The Fraud Continues" There is a video link.

"The American Civil Liberties Union is trumpeting a judge's decision in Michigan which brings to a halt the practice of eliminating voters from rolls if their mailing address is found to be invalid.

Recently, the GOP chairman in Macomb County, Michigan, detailed a plan to use a list of foreclosed homes to challenge voters. His pronouncement drew an immediate backlash, with predictions that the plan would "backfire."

"Former Republican operative James Tobin has been indicted for making false statements to the FBI in connection with the bureau's investigation of a phone-jamming scheme in New Hampshire in 2002, according to court filings examined by TPMmuckraker.

Update: Here's the indictment. It contains two counts, both related to making false statements to the FBI during its investigation into the New Hampshire GOP's effort to jam the phones of the Democratic Party on Election Day 2002."

Greg didn’t just expose the mugging of democracy. As a University of Chicago trained researcher, he was able to detail how Katherine Harris used an outside vendor to create caging lists that prevented legitimate voters from casting their ballots. In fact, Greg has a laptop presentation that actually shows you the lists that Harris’s office worked from in keeping minorities from voting.

Of course, Greg’s investigation on vote theft – which has branched out widely in the intervening years – is persuasive and thorough enough for the BBC and British newspapers, but not for the corporate press in America! We kid you not.

How come it seems the Republicans come up in voter fraud? Sure people registering all those duplicate people should be held accountable and punished but did they vote? How do we know that the other team in disguise didn't do it to make the others look bad? Didn't Rove do that back in his early career?

"Even as voter turnout in the Nov. 4 presidential election is expected to reach record levels, fear - fed by rumor, innuendo and misinformation - is running high that droves of eligible voters in Michigan and other battleground states could be turned away or tricked into not voting.

Suggestions of a massive Republican-led effort to suppress the Democratic vote - mainly in urban areas of battleground states - are rampant on liberal talk radio, the Internet and the streets of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Benton Harbor."

"Todd Palin seated behind a White House desk and shaping national policy could be one of the most dangerous aspects of a potential Sarah Palin presidency.

An overlooked part of the Alaska state trooper investigation is its finding on the influence of Gov. Palin’s husband, Todd—the “First Dude” or, as he is known around the Alaska statehouse, the “First Gentleman.” '

"It's time again to remember the backstory of the US Attorney Firing scandal. The firings were one thing. But the story behind the firings, what led to them, is key to understanding the current 'vote fraud' scam being played by the Republicans and the media outlets that are going along with the scam.

Remember, the US Attorneys in question were all either Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. In every case, they were appointed by George W. Bush. In most of the cases their firing was tied to 'vote fraud' claims stemming from the 2004 election."

"The pattern was very consistent. During the final weeks of the 2004 campaign Republican partisans started pressing claims of widespread voter fraud. In many, though not all cases, the examples they pointed to were not even allegations of voter fraud, but allegations of voter registration fraud: examples of people being registered more than once, non-existent people being registered, etc. "

"Washington - As the economy worsens and Election Day approaches, a conservative campaign that blames the global financial crisis on a government push to make housing more affordable to lower-class Americans has taken off on talk radio and e-mail.

Commentators say that's what triggered the stock market meltdown and the freeze on credit. They've specifically targeted the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the federal government seized on Sept. 6, contending that lending to poor and minority Americans caused Fannie's and Freddie's financial problems.

Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren't true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis."

"COME JANUARY, a new president will take charge of a nation diminished, an America that is far shakier economically, less secure militarily, and less respected internationally than it was eight years before. The nation needs a chief executive who has the temperament and the nerves to shepherd Americans through what promises to be a grueling period - and who has the vision to restore this country to its place of leadership in the world.

Such a leader is at hand. With great enthusiasm, the Globe endorses Senator Barack Obama for president."

People do not want more of the same with McCain and Palin. They are just like Bush and Cheney or WORSE.

"Lawmakers from both parties have concluded that President Bush engaged in a "legally unprecedented and inappropriate" use of his executive power authority when he intervened to scuttle a congressional inquiry into the White House's role in outing former CIA agent Valerie Plame.

At issue is an interview of Vice President Dick Cheney conducted by the FBI during its investigation into the Plame leak. The House Oversight Committee last year requested a copy of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's report on that interview, and Bush has invoked executive privilege to justify his refusal to comply."

"Summary: The Wall Street Journal asserted that Sen. Barack Obama's "kind of organizers work at Acorn, the militant advocacy group that is turning up in reports about voter fraud across the country." The editorial cited as evidence reports that ACORN submitted allegedly false or duplicate voter registration applications this year in Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Florida, New Mexico, North Carolina, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Connecticut, and Texas. But the editorial did not note that the statutes of at least nine of those 11 states require third parties registering prospective voters to submit to election officials all registration forms they received -- even those they believed to be false or duplicate applications."

"In 2009, under a plan that lowers taxes on both gains and dividends, those making $1 million or more would get two-thirds of the benefit, and an average tax cut of more than $72,000. Those making less than $50,000 would get, on average, nothing.:

This kind of the GOP is racist, hate-filled and evil. They cannot talk about the issues facing Americans because they have nothing to offer. Republicans should be ashamed that their brand has sunk so low.

The beleaguered Democratic-leaning community group Acorn sends over this photograph: John McCain, in March of 2006, sitting beside Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek at an event Acorn co-sponsored in Florida.

The immigration event, which other photos show was packed with red-shirted Acorn member, was co-sponsored by the local Catholic Archdiocese, the SEIU, and other groups.

McCain, still spiting much of his party on immigration at the time, was the headliner.

Bertha Lewis, Acorn's chief organizer, said in a statement that came with the photo, “It has deeply saddened us to see Senator McCain abandon his historic support for ACORN and our efforts to support the goals of low-income Americans."

"A report released last Friday by the bipartisan Alaska Legislative Council found that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “abused her power” and violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act — an act, the report stressed, that “is not optional.”

Since the report’s release, the McCain-Palin campaign has been in full spin mode. Campaign manager Rick Davis falsely claimed “there was absolutely no wrongdoing found in the report.” And when asked by a reporter if she abused her power, Palin dodged, saying “there’s nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member” — referring to her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. "

"But yesterday, during an interview with the local CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Palin stooped a little lower, stating flat out that the Legislative Council’s report had found that she did not abuse her power:

PALIN: [T]he report that came out also was very clear in that there was no unethical or unlawful behavior on my part. … No abuse of power there at all."

Palin appears to be a liar. If she ignores reports like this, what might she do if she were to be elected and has even more power? Hasn't Cheney abused the VP position enough? We don't need more like him or *their spouses*.

As the election nears, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) seems to be making a final push to distance himself from President Bush. In yesterday’s debate, he firmly declared, “I am not President Bush. … I’m going to give a new direction to this economy in this country.” In a new ad out today named “Fight,” McCain directly tells viewers that the economy during the Bush years hasn’t “worked very well”:

The last eight years haven’t worked very well, have they? I’ll make the next four better.

He voted with Bush over 90% of the time, so how does that work? McCain is just more of the same.

"John McCain did great tonight in the debate. But every time John mentioned “Joe the Plumber,” some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John’s debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). “You idiots - he’s related to Charles Keating… of the Keating Five scandal!” They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who’s spurned Barack Obama’s tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher’s background.

Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years."

Yes Sarah Palin is promoting Racism. It is really ironic, because she is playing on this platform attacking Obama accussing him of “Paling around with domestic terroirsts” is Sarah Palin not a domestic terrorist when she ramps up the rightwing base with these lies, and futher more creating a possibility of hate crimes with the shouting of racial slurs and death threats on innocent people. The fact that she stands before these crowds with a look of pride for the hate drivin crowd she stimulates with lies from her mouth, is fractions of crossing the line into another Hitler. She dotes and snares as she carries on, this is very, very scary stuff. It is scarier than the econmic mess we are facing right now. I really hope American People see what Sarah Palin really represents in her behavior, it most definately is not the behavior of a ‘true leader’, picture this woman sitting in our Countries Capital and add to that the horrible hate crime messages she is sending right now and hope those other World Leaders (who have ethnic back grounds) don’t remember her racial attacks on one of her own fellow Americans. I am ashamed to hear her say she is American, we put racial hate to bed decades ago and here she is dredging it up again, that is not a “true leader” in my mind.

The "real America or pro-America" comments about anyone that doesn't support the republicans or McCain-Palin continues to divide the nation. What is next? racist or "you are either for us or against us" comments?

"WASHINGTON (Oct. 17) - Democrat Barack Obama on Friday won endorsements from two unlikely newspapers -- the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.While the Tribune is the largest daily in Obama's hometown, the publication hasn't backed a Democrat in its 161-year history. And the Times hasn't endorsed a presidential candidate since 1972, when it backed President Richard M. Nixon's re-election. This is also the first time it's endorsing a Democrat for president."

ACORN and election fraud. Hang on. As soon as I can get the alligator that crawled out of my toilet back into the New York City sewers where it belongs, I can turn my attention to this very important topic.

You see, the ACORN “election fraud” story is one of those urban legends, like fake moon landings and alligators in the sewers, and it appears three or four weeks before every recent national election with the regularity of the swallows returning to Capistrano. First, the basics: ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is an activist group working with low and moderate income families that, among many other things, registers voters. To do this they hire people to go around signing up the unregistered, killing two birds with one stone – giving employment to people who need it (some with criminal records) and providing the opportunity to vote to members of minority communities whose voices all too often go unheard.What happens is that some of those hired to do the registering, who are paid by the name, make people up. As a result, you’ll discover that among the registrants are such obvious fakes as Mickey Mouse and the starting line-up of the Dallas Cowboys, among others.

This is where the Republican meme kicks in. As they have in past elections (although now louder and more angrily than ever), the GOP has made ACORN the red flag du jour as the party tries to mobilize its conservative base and, allegedly, attempts to suppress the vote and distract attention from accusations of election tampering made against them, too.

"In a way, it's surprising that there aren't more bodies piling up at military bases all over this nation" - The Fayetteville Observer

"The October 14, 2008 editorial in the Fayetteville, NC Observer "Our View: Military Domestic Violence Needs More Aggressive Prevention," focused on the murder of four military women in North Carolina and contained a startling comment: "In a way, it's surprising that there aren't more bodies piling up at military bases all over this nation." The Observer is the newspaper that serves Fort Bragg, one of the military's largest bases.

The editorial was in response to the vigil held on October 8 at the gates of Fort Bragg to commemorate the murder of four US military women in North Carolina in the past nine months, and to call for action to prevent more murders by members of the US military.

In a nine-month period from December 2007 to September 2008, four US military women were killed by military men near the Army's Fort Bragg and the Marine Corps's Camp Lejeune, two military mega-bases in North Carolina."

"BAGHDAD (AFP) – Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi lawmakers on Saturday to reject a planned US-Iraqi security deal as tens of thousands of his followers poured on to the streets of Baghdad in a massive anti-American protest."

Dear Mr. Fitzgerald:I've given up on justice and what all America is about. You are, as I can tell, an honorable person. I do not find fault with you at all.

The most unvetted presidential candidate is winning the race for the presidency, and millions of Americans are accepting it. Obama can do no wrong. I'm tired of trying to warn others. No more. Every day I lived to hear news that Obama has been cuffed and taken to jail or that some significant "surprise" would make him ineligible to be president. It never happens. So I'm done with the hope.

I guess the last straw came when voting registrations in Ohio were being questioned and so much from the Democratic Party to hault efforts to resolve it. Even the Supreme Court is basically saying... "It's okay to commit fraud."

I now see why so much crime is never resolved. It comes to the point that, like myself, people ask why help? Why try to do the right thing?

Were you yelling for justice in 2000 and 2004? Where is there proof that voter fraud has been committed at the booth by Obama? Do you believe every Republican lie about Obama? If so, I feel sorry for you.

"CNN investigative reporter Drew Griffin fact-checked John McCain’s claim that the grassroots community organizing group ACORN is “destroying the fabric of democracy.” Conservatives have attacked ACORN’s voter registration efforts as “voter fraud” because they have resulted in the submission of a small number of faulty forms. As noted by DailyKos diarist ryeland, Griffin correctly reported, “Our research is showing — this more looks like a fraud perpetrated on ACORN,” not by ACORN. The people who ACORN paid by the hour to register voters committed fraudulent acts against the organization."

"Griffin went on to explain to “viewers that it is very unlikely that the bogus registrations would actually lead to voter fraud.”'

""I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said. Such things as 'Well you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well the correct answer is 'He is not a Muslim, he's a Christian, he's always been a Christian.' But the really right answer is 'What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?' The answer is 'No. That's not America.' Is there something wrong with some 7-year old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she can be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion he's a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

"I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo-essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in you can see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Karim Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American, he was born in New Jersey, he was 14 at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he can go serve his counrty and he gave his life." --Colin Powell.

Donald Duck and the Dallas Cowboys won't steal the election for Obama. Acorn's only crime is registering Democratic voters

"It's an old Republican scam, but it's never been carried out with more zeal than this year. The Republicans have been putting so much time, money and resources into the propaganda leading up to this over the last four years, we should have expected no less."

"A new cartoon by syndicated cartoonist Gordon Campbell hits Gen. Colin Powell for endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). The cartoon shows a picture of Revolutionary War general Bendict Arnold — who infamously committed one of U.S. history’s greatest acts of treason — in blackface, followed by the line: “Benedict Arnold…Race Patriot“

Politicker reports Campbell also stated that Powell “wishes to see someone who looks like himself in the White House.” Similarly, Rush Limbaugh is now saying that Powell endorsed Obama only because they are both African-American, and a prominent Maine GOP activist claimed, “If Obama was a white man, Powell would not have made the endorsement.”"

There are the Republicans, right on cue, with their racial slurs and hatred.

"Lillie McCain, 56, another distant cousin of John McCain who is black, said the Republican presidential nominee is trying to hide his past, and refuses to accept the family’s history.

“After hearing him in 2000 claim his family never owned slaves, I sent him an email,” she recalled. “I told him no matter how much he denies it, it will not make it untrue, and he should accept this and embrace it.”"

Over the weekend, police and state investigators arrested the “owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year…on suspicion of voter registration fraud.” Voters charge that Mark Jacoby duped them into joining the California Republican Party by making them believe they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molestors.

"CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Tuesday charged a policeman accused of torturing suspects with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying in a civil suit brought by one of the tortured men.

Former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge, 60, whose activities were once called to the attention of the United Nations, was arrested at his home near Tampa, Florida. He could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the three criminal counts.

Burge was acquitted of brutality in a Chicago trial 20 years ago, but was subsequently fired by the police department in 1993. He still receives a $30,000 annual police pension."

"In an interview with a local Colorado TV station, Palin said the vice president is "in charge of the United States Senate" and "can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes."

"If Palin didn't want to break out the copy of the Constitution that is presumably gathering dust on a bookshelf somewhere in the governor's mansion, she could have simply looked to pop-culture for some easy to follow guidance. The Emmy-winning HBO mini-series John Adams featured a memorable scene of the country's first vice president being reminded of the lack of authority his position entailed."

The office of VP has been abused enough by Cheney and Palin abused her power in Alaska. ENOUGH is ENOUGH!!

"Terror group hopes McCain continues 'failing march' of BushA Web site linked to international terror group al Qaeda has endorsed John McCain's presidential bid, believing the Republican candidate will keep US troops engaged in costly, intractable wars abroad and continue the policies of President Bush, according to news reports.

Al Qaeda also is cheering the ongoing financial crisis in the US, according to the messages taken from a password-protected site linked to the group, according to the Washington Post."

"Sarah Palin, small-town hockey mom and everywoman? More like Sarah Palin, pampered princess. Jeanne Cummings at Politico reports that the RNC’s monthly financial disclosure reports reveal that the Republican National Committee has spent tens of thousands of dollars on the vice presidential candidate's wardrobe and accessories since she was nominated, including $150,000 in September alone.

So it seems you can take the girl out of the beauty pageant, but you can’t take the beauty pageant out of the girl."

"No, it's the money of Joe and Jane Six Packs who donated money for something other than Piper Palin's Louis Vitton handbag. And it doesn't MATTER if it isn't my money. Unlike YOU, I don't want to see ANYONE get screwed. Not my family, not your family, and definitely not the families of people who are losing their homes but still pulled together and donated money to the RNC hoping that their prayers would be answered.

I don't think any of them were praying that Sarah Palin would be able to afford a pair of red snakeskin pumps with their donations!"

"Palin seems to think the Vice President plays a major role in the legislative branch. In an interview this week, she made the extraordinary claim that the VP is “in charge of the U.S. Senate.” During the vice presidential debate that she declared she was “thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the Vice President also if that Vice President so chose to exert it in working with the Senate.”

McCain seems completely unaware that his own VP pick consistently reveals a “worldview” nearly perfectly in line with Dick Cheney."

"September, 2008. Naming Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate, Senator John McCain went from the frying pan directly into the fire. Perhaps because of a need to embrace the Religious Right, and probably with complete ignorance of various competing and feuding groups that make up the Religious Right, McCain made an incredible choice. He chose someone who had been publicly anointed by Muthee - the internationally known "Transformations" witch hunter himself. Muthee is a flag bearer for a movement that is wildly controversial in the Religious Right.

Hagee had been an embarrassment with his Great Harlot of Mystery Babylon sermons but he is not an Apostle in a network that credits themselves with "killing" Mother Theresa with their prayers. He did promote the Iraq War as the "Final War" and assured his congregation and international television audiences that the invasion of Iraq would trigger the end times - they would be Raptured at any minute. But Hagee teaches that true believers will watch the destruction of their hated enemies from the grandstands of heaven."

"Sarah Palin was anointed by the Transformations superstar himself - Thomas Muthee, in a ceremony laden with "Kingdom" significance including the lingo for breaking generational and national curses and rebuking witchcraft."

What do Sarah Palin's spiritual advisers have in mind for America's citizens?

"Following the Drudge Report’s lead yesterday, news organizations picked up the story of a McCain campaign volunteer in Pittsburgh named Ashley Todd, who said that a black man mugged her, sexually assaulted her, and scratched a “B” into her cheek because she had a McCain bumper sticker on her car. The police quickly pointed out “inconsistencies” in her story. Todd has now confessed that she made up the story. On his blog yesterday, Fox News Executive VP John Moody, who is a Pittsburgh native, wrote that the incident’s credibility was inextricably tied to McCain’s campaign:

This incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election.

If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

For Pittsburgh, a city that has done so much to shape American history over the centuries, another moment of truth is at hand.

Yesterday, before Todd had confessed, the McCain campaign put out a statement about the incident, saying, “We’re shaken up by this. It’s sick and disgusting.”"

See what happens when the candidates stir up hate with their lies.........McCain/Palin???? She made it all up, how sick and racist.

"McCain’s Campaign puts a media muzzle on his staunch supporter of muslim descent, who talked down anti-muslim hatemongers at his rallies. BUT calls to console and support a white christian MORON who decided to make up a story about being mugged by a Obama supporting black man in the most obvious case of race-baiting I’ve ever seen in my life. Why was she in Pittsburgh to begin with when she is from Texas? maybe because people from PA aren’t buying what he’s trying to sell so, he ships in volunteers who would rather engage in stirring up racial problems than talk about the issues that are effecting us all as AMERICANS. Meaning people who live in America, no matter what they look like or what they believe.

Is this what they mean when they say country first? Are the republican base even aware that this country is made up of more than Christians of European origin?"

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About Me

Think Globally Prosecute Locally
- I grew up in Flatbush, kept my nose clean, went to law school. Now that I am in Chicago and D.C. I have found that the rampant graft and corruption to be a travesty - a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.
---Favorite quote --- "Conditional love is an oxymoron." - Yours truly